Book features plays by African-American Texans

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March 21, 2014

Texas State University professors Sandra Mayo and Elvin Holt have written "Acting Up and Getting Down: Plays by African American Texans" ($24.95 paperback, $55 hardback, University of Texas Press)

Photo By Courtesy photo

Alice Pratt Brown Hall, center, is the home of Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. The new opera theater will stand between Brown Hall and the stadium.

Photo By Jeff Fitlow/Photographer

Cellist Charles Seo studies at Houston's High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

Photo By Courtesy photo

Violinist Nadir Kashimov is a semifinalist in the Houston Symphony's Ima Hogg Competition.

The University of Texas Press has published an anthology featuring works by seven African-American playwrights with Texas connections. "Acting Up and Getting Down" (364 pp., $55) showcases literary artists familiar to patrons of Houston's Ensemble Theatre, which has long supported African-American playwrights.

A related exhibit at the Wittliff Collections in San Marcos is on view through Aug. 1. The Wittliff hosts a book launch with the editors at 4 p.m. Friday. Free; Alkek Library, Texas State University, San Marcos; 512-245-2313, thewitliffcollections.txstate.edu.

Molly Glentzer

Gladys unveiled

Since 1960, a life-size painting of a woman named Gladys Knox has been hanging in La Carafe, a wine bar at 813 Congress. The early-20th-century painting is believed to be the work of Scottish painter Sir James Guthrie. During the years, Gladys - as she is commonly known among La Carafe staff and patrons - collected enough smoke and dust to form a layer of grime over her canvas. Earlier this year, La Carafe sent her off to be cleaned and restored.

La Carafe will celebrate the return of Gladys, who will reclaim her spot on the wall, 5-7 p.m. Thursday. The public is invited, and cheese, fruit and breads will be served. Information: 713-229-9399.

Seo, 18, already holds the gold medal from the Houston Symphony League Concerto Competition, which he won last year. The Hogg contestants will vie for $43,000 in prize money, including a top prize of $25,000.

Besides serving the school's Opera Department, the theater will house chamber-music concerts, lectures and events serving the entire Rice community, Yekovich said. When Rice eventually completes a plan to make its western entrance from University Boulevard the campus' main gateway, the theater will be the focal point.

"It will be one of the signature buildings on the campus," Yekovich said.

"This is kind of a triple homecoming for me personally," Renfro said. He came to Rice as a music major and studied clarinet, then returned to the school to study architecture. He taught as a visiting professor in 2006.

"It feels really natural in a lot of ways to be returning to campus, a place I've spent so much time and love so much," Renfro said.

Designing should begin in the fall, Yekovich said, and the school hopes to break ground in about a year.

Fisher Dachs Associates, a New York firm, will help guide the theater's technical design. Threshold Acoustics of Chicago will also take part. Houston's Linbeck Group will be the general contractor.